A site that has been vacant for a decade and is so contaminated “you shouldn’t go within fifty yards of it,” according to Walter Clayton, a Glendale resident who worked at the site for nearly a decade in the 1970s, is now being eyed by the city for a new homeless shelter.

Pending the results of an environmental assessment study, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) approved a contract for a 125-family homeless shelter with Samaritan Village at 78-16 Cooper Ave.

Clayton said they routinely poured vats of glue residue on the grounds outside the woodworking company that once occupied the now-vacant building.

“Nobody thought about the contamination in those days,” Clayton said. “It was just part of our daily routine. There was talk those days that since the factory was home to four floors of metal shop fabrication, which used chemical filtration processes that were never regulated, the site was radioactive.”

The School Construction Authority rejected the site due to, in part, contamination. A number of youth community organizations, including the YMCA, also passed on the site.

While the review process does include an environmental test of the site, leaders in Glendale fear that DHS might be so desperate it might not conduct a proper study. Some have considered commissioning their own study.

Brian Dooley, president of the Glendale Property Owners Association, agreed that the site is a mystery when it comes to decades of environmental abuse.

“If we could raise enough funds and get access to the property - I have no idea what the quotes could be - but if it’s something we could do, it would certainly be worth while,” Dooley said.

Update: A preliminary, phase 1, Environmental report on the property is attached: